When we left the River Derwent via the Barmby Barrage we decided to head down the Ouse and into Goole via the sea lock. Passage through the lock is free in the three hour window between two hours before high water and one hour after. Being on the mean side we decided to battle against the tide for the first hour or so of the journey to avoid having to fork out the £29.50 charge. The weather was lovely to begin with…

..but soon deteriorated.

By the time we got to the lock at Goole we were in the middle of a full blown hail storm. The lock wasn’t open for us even though we’d called ahead, and Gordon had a hell of a job keeping the boat in the right position as the tide by that time was running fast and pulling us past the lock opening.

A few minutes later and we’re in bright sunshine again and happily ensconced in the biggest lock I’ve ever experienced having managed to just scrape into the free time slot.

It really felt like overkill having that lock filled just for us!

Travelling into Goole from the Humber side you’re likely to meet some pretty big boats. I’m glad we didn’t have to deal with any of them out on the river in the hail storm!

We also got to pass the No 5 Coal Hoist on our way through Goole. You get a much better view of it from the water and it is an extraordinary structure.